Rajbehra Cub

One of the Rajbehra cub walked with two others for quite a distance to drink water. They were coming after eating a fresh kill and you can notice blood stains from the kill on his nose and elsewhere on his face. These cubs are about an year old.

Bamera Male, Bandhavgarh

Bamera Male from Bandhavgarh

I was delighted to see him after hearing stories around the fight, his injurues and the territory limitation.. He seems to have recovered well though not 100% yet. We hope he recovers fully and wins back his territory from the new mystery male. There are a bunch of cubs under threat and he needs to provide them protection.

Sloth Bear

Bamera

Had a good time with him as he walked with our vehicle for over 10 minutes... I was glad to see him in good shape and he looked as majestic as ever ; he is recovered well though he is still limping a bit. It was an awesome sighting for sure!

Tiger Close up

Male at Charkawar Dam, Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve

Just back after a quick trip to Bandhavgarh - Saw this male late in the evening under very tricky light. He just walked across the bund giving us a good 2 minute sighting very late in the evening. We had just about enough time to get back to the gate within the stipulated time.

Tiger

Tiger - Mukunda Male

This guy is also known as the "Adiyal Male" from the Maghdi zone at Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, and was frequently seen between the charger point and Mahaaman dam. We were lucky to find him here and then he walked with our gypsy (and 3/4 other) all the way to Mahaaman dam where he drank a truck load of water :)

Tigress with Cubs

This is the Jhorjhura Tigress with her third litter.. The two cubs seen here are both female and they have grown to be fine tigress themselves.. One of them is know today as Kankati (she has 3 cubs) and the other one is known as the Rajbehra female (said to be pregnant). Together, they have a sizable share of Tala zone in Bandhavgarh.

Tiger Cub at Rajbehra Dam

Tiger

B2 the Legend

One of the two Tigers in India to get "Lifetime Achievement Award" in recognition of his star pulling power in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

He has sired over 35 tigers, 90% of which lived to adulthood, an extraordinary high ratio itself thanks to the protection he has been able to afford his many lovers! The sizable majority of tigers living in Bandhavgarh today are his sons and daughters. As Head of the family business, B2 has been estimated to have earned US$30m over his 7 year reign in the Tala Tourism range.

My last sighting of B2

My last sighting of the outstanding Tiger called B2 - I still miss him when I go to Bandhavgarh and into the areas ruled by him !!
One of the two Tigers in India to get "Lifetime Achievement Award" in recognition of his star pulling power in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.He has sired over 35 tigers, 90% of which lived to adulthood, an extraordinary high ratio itself thanks to the protection he has been able to afford his many lovers! The sizable majority of tigers living in Bandhavgarh today are his sons and daughters. As Head of the family business, B2 has been estimated to have earned US$30m over his 7 year reign in the Tala Tourism range.

Brown Fish Owl..

Brown Headed Barbett

Indian Pitta

Patience paid off, waited for over an hour and finally this guy perched very close to our vehicle and allowed me to make a few images from close distance.The Indian Pitta is a small stubby-tailed bird that is mostly seen on the floor of forests or under dense undergrowth, foraging on insects in leaf litter. It has long, strong legs, a very short tail and stout bill, with a buff coloured crown stripe, black coronal stripes, a thick black eye stripe and white throat and neck. The upperparts are green, with a blue tail, the underparts buff, with bright red on the lower belly and vent...

Stork Billed Kingfisher

Black Ibis

Magpie Robin

Serpent Eagle

Blue-bearded Bee-eater

The Blue-bearded Bee-eater Nyctyornis athertoni is a large species of bee-eater found in South Asia. This species is found in openings in patches of dense forest. It is found in the Malayan region and also extends into the Western Ghats in southwestern India. The blue feathers of its throat are elongated and often held fluffed up giving it the name
This large bee-eater has a large sickle shaped bill and the square ended tail lacks the "wires" that are typical of smaller bee-eaters. The bird is grass green with a turquoise forehead, face and chin. The feathers of the throat are elongated giving it a bearded appearance when they are fluffed out. The belly is yellowish to olive with streaks of green or blue. The peninsular Indian populations are said to be paler green than the northeast Indian populations. Although males and females appear similar, the blue throat feathers of the male show higher ultraviolet reflectivity than those of the female (Wiki).

Coucal

The Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant (Centropus sinensis) is a large non-parasitic member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes. A widespread resident in Asia, from India, east to south China and Indonesia, it is divided into several subspecies, some being treated as full species. They are large, crow-like with a long tail and coppery brown wings and found in wide range of habitats from jungle to cultivation and urban gardens. They are weak fliers, and are often seen clambering about in vegetation or walking on the ground as they forage for insects, eggs and nestlings of other birds. They have a familiar deep resonant call which is associated with omens in many parts of its range.
This is a large species of cuckoo at 48 cm. The head is black, upper mantle and underside are black glossed with purple. The back and wings are chestnut brown. There are no pale shaft streaks on the coverts. The eyes are ruby red. Juveniles are duller black with spots on the crown and there are whitish bars on the underside and tail (Wiki).

Rufous Treepie

The Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) is an Asian treepie, a member of the Corvidae (crow) family. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspicuous. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests as well as urban gardens. Like other corvids it is very adaptable, omnivorous and opportunistic in feeding.

This is a typically arboreal species feeding almost completely in trees on fruits, seeds, invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds; it has also been known to take flesh from recently killed carcasses. It is extremely agile while searching for food, clinging and clambering through the branches and will sometimes travel in small mixed hunting parties with unrelated species such as drongos and babblers. It has been observed feeding on parasites of wild deer. Like many other corvids they are known to cache food. They have been considered to be beneficial to palm cultivation in southern India due to their foraging on the grubs of the destructive weevil (Wiki).

Black-Headed Cuckooshrike

Racket Tailed Drongo

Racket-tailed Drongo, Dicrurus paradiseus, is a medium-sized Asian bird which is distinctive in having elongated outer tail feathers with webbing restricted to the tips. They are placed along with other drongos in the family Dicruridae. They are conspicuous in the forest habitats often perching in the open and by attracting attention with a wide range of loud calls that include perfect imitations of many other birds. It has been suggested that these imitations may help in the formation of mixed-species foraging flocks, a feature seen in forest bird communities where many insect feeders forage together. These drongos will sometimes steal insect prey caught or disturbed by other foragers in the flock. They are diurnal but are active well before dawn and late at dusk.

In most of its range in Asia, this is the largest of the drongo species and is readily identifiable by the distinctive tail rackets and the crest of curled feather that begin in front of the face above the beak and along the crown to varying extents according to the subspecies. The tail with twirled rackets is distinctive and in flight it can appear as if two large bees were chasing a black bird (Wiki).

Cat Walk

Queen of Rajbehra

She is one of the few Tigers I love to shoot and have met her every time I have been to Bandhavgarh. First time I saw her, she was just a few weeks old curious cub who was very attached to her mother and then I have seen her grow up, living separately from mom, missed kill attempts as a youngster and many more.. She is now littered twice and and grown all of them to adulthood. The current litter is 3 males and 1 female and reached a stage where they are ready to separate.. Im hoping, she is ready for her third and we might hear the good news in near future. This is Rajbehra Female and the present queen of Rajbehra, the prime real estate in the Tiger world of Bandhavgarh.

Two Brothers

These cubs were waiting for four days at the same place their mom left them. A perfect example of discipline and patience. Mom returned the next day with food and the cubs were content with their tummy full. It was sleep and cozy time there after...